Life before Bravo included kidnapping, cocaine and sex

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New Jersey housewife and reality TV starlet Danielle Straub said no one should judge her sordid past -- details of which emerged in court documents that alleged she used to sling coke and worked as an escort.

"Don't judge me," she told Usmagazine.com. "There's only one person that can judge anybody. In spirit and in life, we are all equal. There is only one higher power."

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The 46-year-old "Real Housewives of New Jersey" cast member spent her 20s slinging cocaine in Miami until the FBI stepped in, according to documents dug up by smokinggun.com.

The future Jersey mom became involved with big time dealer while working at an escort service, the report indicates. Following a drug deal gone bad, Staub and her companion sought to punish the man who botched the job by kidnapping him and holding him for ransom.

That's when the FBI got involved and traced ransom calls to Staub and her companion who were found with 6 kilos of cocaine and $16,000 in cash.

She was charged with 8 felony counts, which got dropped to one after she signed a plea agreement and snitched out other criminals. She did 5 years of probation.

Staub hasn't discussed this past on the Bravo TV show that gives viewers a glimpse into the life of wealthy housewives from Jersey, but she's probably not losing any sleep over it. On her blog she wrote: "I am not evil. I am forgiven by the highest powers from above."

Fellow housewife Jacqueline Laurita was the only cast member to defend Straub but tells Usmagazine in its latest issue that the two are no longer friends.

"I am not friends with Danielle," Laurita told the magazine.

Laurita went against her sisters-in-law -- who are both featured on the show -- to defend Straub but said she made a mistake.